


holiday cheer

by ohsoblue



Category: NoPixel
Genre: A gift for a friend, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28180548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsoblue/pseuds/ohsoblue
Summary: aj spends the holidays at bobby's with the family and clears a few things up while he's at it.
Relationships: AJ Hunter/Bobby Smith
Kudos: 14





	holiday cheer

**Author's Note:**

> a secret santa gift for a friend, i hope you like it!

Can it still be just friends if AJ’s spending the holiday at Bobby’s? With his _daughter_ , no less? He knows he’s being stupid about it. Is it natural to be so nervous? When he can stare down the barrel of a gun and know he can come out the other side, it feels like this should be a walk in the park. He knows it’s everything but that when he knocks on the door and Zelda answers.

He hasn’t had much of a chance to talk to her about everything and even now, she’s just a bit intimidating. It doesn’t have that much to do with him wanting to date her father, either. She has that stare. The one on her face now. The one that says she knows everything inside his soul as though she’s picked him up by the ankles and turned him upside down. The twitch to her lips is a lot like her shaking him while he’s being held, seeing what all he has in every hidden crevice.

“Hey, Zelda,” AJ greets, lifting a hand in a wave that he regrets almost as soon as he does it. Again, no need to be nervous, and yet…

“AJ,” she greets back and then looks over her shoulder. He can hear the sound of pots and pans banging around. There’s also some music playing, soft, like instrumentals of classic holiday songs. There was a time where AJ thought Bobby didn’t celebrate holidays.

“He’s cooking?” AJ asks, hands fumbling to go into his pockets. Zelda watches him fail twice.

“No,” she says, blatantly fucking with him. There’s mirth in those devilish eyes of hers.

“Who’s at the door, Zelda?” Bobby calls from within the home. 

“An annoying salesman,” Zelda shouts back, sarcasm lacing her voice. “No idea who else you were expecting.”

Bobby’s footsteps come from down the hall. At that, Zelda pulls her hand from behind her back, slaps a mistletoe on the doorway, and darts the way her dad’s approaching.

All the while, AJ can only stare in shock and awe. Whoever said Zelda was a sweet angel was lying or oblivious. Meanwhile, Bobby makes it to the door and pauses, one foot in front of the other, as his eye is drawn to the mistletoe. And even though that sends anticipation running through his veins, all he can focus on is the obnoxious sweater Bobby’s wearing. There’s _lights_ on it. It _matches_ his _eyepatch_.

“Someone’s feeling festive,” AJ blurts, a sheepish hand rubbing the back of his neck. If he knew that had been the dress code, he would have found something better than his button-up. 

Bobby pointedly stares at the mistletoe and says, “Doesn’t seem like I’m the only one.”

AJ comes to the realization that Bobby thinks _he_ put it there. He sputters but shuts up real quick when Bobby leans in and softly presses his lips to AJ’s cheek, just under his right eye. It’s incredibly tender and he feels himself warming up, a little dopey grin on his lips. 

“Besides, my daughter’s got a sweater for you too,” Bobby continues and backs up, leaving the door wide open for him. “It’d be a shame if you didn’t wear it. Oh and her brother’s here, too.”

Jacob? That’s a surprise. He knew Bobby had been wanting to meet him for a while and Zelda had never taken the steps to make it happen. To hear that it’s finally happened makes him happy for Bobby. He wonders how it went. 

It also makes him wonder why he was invited if it’s some sort of family gathering. 

He steps into the house and takes off his shoes. He puts them neatly off to the side where the others are. 

“So what’s the plan?” AJ asks as the door closes behind him. 

“I’m finishing up dinner and Zelda’s watching a few movies,” Bobby says. “There’s not really a ‘plan’. Just relax.”

“I’m not sure you’re capable of that,” AJ teases, nudging his side. As they pass by the living room, AJ gets to see what movie they’re watching. And well, if he didn’t know Christmas Horror movies existed before, he does now.

Jacob looks up from the screen and puts a finger to his lips, shushing them. AJ… keeps walking and eventually makes it to the kitchen, where his stomach grumbles at the smell of good food. He stops short at the sight of cookie dough spread out over the counter, a bunch of toppings and differently colored icing set off to the side.

“Are we getting creative?” AJ’s eyebrow raises, fingers reaching out to pinch off a corner of dough, getting his hands slapped at. He still manages to pop the piece into his mouth with a small, “Mmm. That’s good.”

Quietly, Bobby says, “I thought it might be fun.”

Nostalgia in his eyes, AJ realizes that maybe this is the first Christmas he’s celebrated in a long time. No better time to make new traditions than the present, right? AJ comes to Bobby’s side and nods.

“I hope you’re ready for a bunch of dicks,” AJ says, looking down at the dough with a tiny smirk, though it feels more like a grin. 

Bobby’s eye scrunches at the corner as he laughs. AJ wants to squish his cheeks and kiss his forehead.

“Bobby…” Aj starts and hesitates. It’s not really romantic to confess his feelings in the kitchen, standing in front of cookie dough, is it? But… but it’s been weighing on him and he wants to know. What if it ruins the evening though? 

“AJ,” Bobby prods, fingers fiddling with the rolling pin, getting flour all over his digits.

“When you invited me over, was it just as your friend or something more?” AJ says, biting the bullet. His free hand creeps over to still Bobby’s fidgeting ways, skimming the backs of his knuckles with his own.

“I was hoping you’d shed some light on what you’re feeling,” Bobby replies, watching their fingers with an intensity that takes AJ’s breath away.

“I,” AJ pauses, inhales, and closes his eyes. After steeling himself, he opens his eyes and says, “I love you.”

Bobby’s face lights up in the smallest of ways. Some wouldn’t notice unless they were looking closely. But AJ knows Bobby. Knows what it means when his eyes go bright, when his shoulders relax, when the corners of his mouth upturn subtly. He loves this man _so much_.

“I love you too,” Bobby says. He pulls his hand away, to the chagrin of AJ, but that fades the instant his palm meets AJ’s cheek.

Bobby doesn’t even have to pull him in. He dips his head and presses his lips to Bobby’s, lingering for a long moment. He pulls away slowly, Bobby following after him. AJ presses their foreheads together with a small chuckle. 

“Now that we got that sorted…” AJ pulls back, grabbing some red icing. “We have cookies to make.”

* * *

It becomes quite the event with Zelda and Jacob in the kitchen. Cookies of all shapes and sizes are piled not so neatly onto sheets, put into the ovens, and then later decorated. Icing ends up everywhere when Zelda takes the first stab; she smears red icing across Bobby’s cheek and darts out of the kitchen, followed close behind as her dad follows with green icing.

Jacob gives AJ the look of death when he picks up some edible glitter. He flicks it at him anyway and ends up in his own chase, sliding across the floors in his socks. One fatal misstep and he lands on his back, giving Jacob the perfect chance to dump sprinkles onto him. AJ opens his mouth and catches some pieces, but otherwise tries to duck away from the majority of it.

When everything’s all said and done, all four of them are a hot mess. Zelda’s hair is a mix of green and tangles. Jacob’s sparkling in every angle of light. Bobby’s got a bear of red icing. AJ feels sprinkles in his _pants_ and doesn’t know how that happened.

As they wind down, they clean up and AJ listens to the banter between siblings, the warmth of Bobby popping in and out of the room. Dinner’s no different of an affair; their conversation is full of laughing and embarrassing stories. A few sobering briefs of emotion, from Bobby’s side, and mentions of a lost older brother from Zelda. It’s intimate. It feels raw and something that AJ shouldn’t be a part of, but he was included for a reason, right?

And by the end of the night, instead of going home, it’s Zelda who says, “You should stay the night.”

Who is he to deny such a suggestion?

When Zelda and Jacob are off to bed, AJ spends a quiet moment watching the snow begin to fall outside. 

In their shared blanket, Bobby falls asleep with his head against AJ’s shoulder and AJ watches the lights on the tree until he, too, drifts off, feeling warm. Feeling at home. He wouldn’t trade any of this for the world.


End file.
